Kate’s Quests

The shirt says, “Shock me shyly. Give a tight strong get away!! Consciousness.”
Oh.my.

DJ got home late Friday night and we spent Saturday relaxing and playing with the kitties. Then very early Sunday we got ready and ran to the train station (well…we walked VERY quickly so as not to be late). We had to catch the Shinkansen (bullet train) out of Shinagawa at 7:06am, which meant we had to be at our station in Zushi by 5:47am. With three minutes to spare we settled in on the local train for the hour ride. Everything went smoothly and at 7:06 we were pulling away from Shinagawa. After four hours we pulled into Hiroshima. We found our hotel and not being able to check in until after 2pm we dropped our bags at the desk and went out exploring.

We weren’t in the city for five minutes when a woman greeted us right outside our hotel and asked if we were traveling. We said that we were and she seemed so happy about that. She asked if we were going to the peace memorial and dome. We said that we were and she agreed that, yes, it was a good idea. So, our first stop was the A-Bomb dome. You walk through the city and it’s all new big buildings until you get here.

It was quite disturbing to stumble upon it and think about what had happened there. The dome definitely brings it home. The metal is twisted, the stone is melted, and the ground is covered in ruins.

Then we wandered over to the peace memorial and walked through the museum. We got the audio tour in English and I snapped a couple of photos. The red ball represents the bomb. But, you can see how everything in the 3km area is just gone.

I wasn’t feeling very good after the lunch we had at an Italian restaurant, so for dinner we just got (I’m so ashamed to admit this in public) McDonald’s and take away sushi. The guy at the sushi place was really cute. He asked DJ a couple of questions in English and he replied with a couple of Japanese phrases like, “Hei! and Ni!” (yes and two). The guy tells DJ that he speaks Japanese very well, at which we both crack up. But, then he says that he read a book in Japanese that he really liked and has a copy in English that he would like to give us. So with sushi and a book and McDonald’s we headed back to the hotel to relax.

Monday it rained. It wasn’t supposed to until late in the evening, but we woke up to rain. We went to Miyajima Island and to the Itsukushima shrine.

The island has many wild deer that roam around. Considering the amount of people in Japan - they’re quite used to us. One decided to take a taste of my jacket.

The shrine would have been much more beautiful to photograph if the tide had been in, but alas, it was low tide.

That’s my - I think you’re taking a picture of me, but I can’t really tell so I’ll smile a little just in case - smile. After the shrine we took the cable car to the top of the mountain. There were many islands to photograph on a clear day. Instead, all we could see were clouds and fog. To get to the ropeway, we had to walk 10 minutes or 7 if we ran a little.

However, there was no running to be had on our trek. Especially since after the long walk to the train station and having walked around a lot the previous day - both our shins and feet were a bit sore.

But the pathway to the ropeway was quite beautiful, if a bit wet.

Then as we’re coming to the end of the trail, we find that the ropeway is just up ahead and its “wonderful scenery is seen by least.” You can tell by DJ’s expression that we’re not quite sure what they mean.

However, once we reach the top, we find more deer and now monkeys! But, the monkeys have rules.

The top sign says, “We do not like to be stared at our eyes. If you do so, we are not responsible for what will happen.” The sign on the left says, “We do not hope to be such a monkey. Please, refrain from feeding us.” And the sign on the right hand side says, “You had better deposit your baggage into the charge free lockers or it will be ours. But we are not interested in your camera.” They weren’t really interested in anything but grooming, feeding and pooing.

After coming back down the mountain we had dinner at a place on the island. We had the local specialty - anago (or eel) on a bed of rice. Very yummy. They are also known for their oysters and so I had some of those too.

The next day, our train didn’t leave until 4pm, so after we checked out, we left our bags again and went to the Hiroshima Prefectual Museum and the Shukkei-en Gardens. The museum was ok, but the gardens were beautiful.

He came over to say hello.

We were photo clicking fools.

Then we went to the castle. There was a giant group of kids on a field trip visiting the castle so we decided not to go inside. Just too many kids.

It was pretty cool standing outside of the castle though, because they had speakers set up in the bushes and were playing very traditional Japanese music. Very surreal.

Then we headed back to the hotel and got our stuff. We went to the station and got some lunch at an Okonomiyaki place. We were sitting at the counter happy eating when I happened to look behind me. And sitting on the table was a mouse. I got DJ’s attention and pointed to it. He shouted urgently to the wait staff and they hurried over wondering what was wrong. Thinking quicker than me he said and pointed, “Mickey mouse!” They knew what that was! And they saw him trying to scurry off, but kitchen tongs proved hard to escape from. We then all had a good laugh about Mr. Mickey.

The train got us home Tuesday around 9pm. We immediately gave the kitties some bonito flakes (their favorite!) and fell into bed.

I had class last night and while correcting my kids homework I came across some interesting sentences. They have to copy sentences into their notebook from their folder. The sentences were:

He was helping Grandma.
She was listening to the radio.
They were cooking supper.

And in one student’s notebook, I got:

She was listening supper.
He was helping radio.

And the best one!

They were cooking Grandma.

Um….ouch?

I was walking home from class the other night and saw the most beautiful sunset. The sun was a gorgeous color red. It’s just what you think of when you picture the land of the rising sun. Nevermind the fact that it was setting. Later the moon was amazing. Sadly my cell phone doesn’t do them justice, but you get the jist.

I had dinner at my student’s house tonight.  Her husband is in China for the year (for work) so it’s just her and her seven year old daughter (the daughter is actually the student).  We got on the topic of the Americans here and I was telling her that D.J. and I were hoping to go to Hiroshima soon.  She said that she had never been and I asked her what she thought about the Washington (a carrier that’s nuclear and replacing the Kitty Hawk soon).  There have been protests outside the gates of the base - one in which I was on base and they shut down the gates for safety, trapping me inside for an hour or so - and I wondered her opinion on it.  She agreed with many of my students that even though she doesn’t necessarily like the fact that there will be a nuclear powered ship here, Japan needs America’s protection.  She said that when North Korea tested their missile over Japanese waters, her daughter cried while watching the news and informed her that she wasn’t going to go to school anymore.  She said that she wanted to die at home with her family and not alone at school.  Isn’t that just the saddest thing you’ve ever heard?  I almost died.  I just wanted to reassure her.  We’re not going anywhere anytime soon!

While walking the length of the mall I came across quite the deal on a new car.  It was a “speseial prais” for Yokosuka residents.  They shouldn’t have!  No…really.

I went to the home of one of the teachers I work with yesterday for lunch. She had four other teachers over and we ate Japanese food and just socialized. It was a holiday (it was Golden week) and yesterday was Boy’s day. She’s leaving the school, which is a shame because I really love her. She’s like another Gramma to me. We get along really well and I enjoy her classes the most. I think she’s the most easy going and relaxed and it translates to the classroom. It puts the students at ease. She has some health problems and says that the stress of the job hasn’t been good for her health so she’s cutting out now (she’s in her late 50’s to early 60’s - I think). Another teacher is also leaving, but I’ve only met her once or twice before.

We talked a lot about politics and religion and it was really interesting to listen to them talk about where they thought Japan was headed. They were all very concerned about the increasing crime rates. When they were growing up in the 50’s, they could remember crimes that happened very well since there would only be one newsworthy crime every couple of years. Now, they say, there are way too many to remember - at least one per day. They said that while growing up (right after WWII), while they still had rules governing morality, they weren’t supposed to have any pride in Japan and instead of highlighting the lines in their books, they had to sit and cross out every sentence in their textbooks. While this was happening, they were watching TV shows from America (Patty Duke and I Love Lucy especially) and fell in love with American culture. They said that they thought the American idea of individualism was so great that they took some of those ideas and incorporated the bad parts of that view into their culture without incorporating the good. They felt that the sense of community that was so prevalent in Japanese culture is increasingly disappearing. They were saddened by the fact that the rules of morality that they had been brought up with (it was a government instituted code taught in schools) has gone by the wayside and they felt like Japan needed something to bring it back into a moral place. They didn’t feel that instituting religion was the answer, but that something needs to be done. They worry that the young people of Japan don’t have the upbringing or spiritual background to be good people anymore.

It made me wonder if America (with all the different religions and senses of right and wrong) will fare any better.

A friend and I went to the Hard Off. You may remember me talking about it here. Anyway, I bought some Japanese dishes that I thought were gorgeous. What do you think?

The platters:

Here are the normal bowls:

And smaller bowl with a lip:

I wanted to leave Japan with some unique Japanese furniture and last Thursday the opportunity presented itself at a Bazaar.  We bought a jewelry box, a tonsu and a bar.  The woman selling the furniture told us that the brass on the bar is over 100 years old, a lotus and promotes peace and harmony.  I figured that was the only way to get happy drunks in the house.

I ended up pushing the bookcase over and putting the cat tree in front of the window.  The next place we rent won’t be nearly as small (I’m crossing my fingers).

I put the Tonsu in the office.  Another guest bed will eventually go there, but until then, the boys have a new toy.

I took my Japanese friends on base the other day. It was very exciting for them. They couldn’t get over how cheap everything was. I’m just not a base kinda girl. Overseas and especially stateside, I would like to stay as far away from the base as possible. It’s just all concrete and barbed wire to me. It feels oppressive seeing as how you have to show ID just to go home. No thank you. I’d rather live in a normal neighborhood in any country than on a base.

Anyway, we all had a good time and afterwards we went to Starbuck’s to relax and one of the girls said that her opinion of Americans had changed dramatically since having met me. She explained that she had been to America once (I believe SanDiego) and was on the shuttle to a shopping mall from the hotel. An older American lady sidled up to her, got right in her face and said, “I HATE Japanese.” She was shocked and hurt and went she came back to Japan, she figured all Americans were aggressive, blunt, forceful, obnoxious and mean. This was why she hired a Canadian man as her daughter’s teacher and when he left, they hired me. He confirmed her idea of Americans by telling her that yes, all Americans are like that. Canadians, he said, were a much calmer and nicer lot. But, she said, I really changed her mind about Americans. That’s one down and only 127 million more to go.